SS Gracechurch was a UK 4,318 GRT cargo ship built by William Doxford & Sons at Pallion on Wearside in 1930.[1] She twice changed owners and names, becoming SS Peebles in 1933 and SS Mill Hill in 1936. She was sunk by a German submarine in August 1940.
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Gracechurch[3] |
| Owner | Gracechurch Shipping Co.[3] |
| Operator | James, Muers & Co.[3] |
| Port of registry |  London[1] |
| Builder | William Doxford & Sons, Sunderland[1][2] |
| Launched | 25 February 1930[2] |
| Completed | April 1930[1][2] |
| Out of service | 1933[3] |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Sold[3] |
| Name | Peebles[4] |
| Owner | B.J. Sutherland & Co[3] |
| Operator | B.J. Sutherland & Co |
| Port of registry | Newcastle-upon-Tyne[3] |
| Acquired | 1933[3] |
| Out of service | 1936[3] |
| Fate | Sold |
| Name | Mill Hill[4] |
| Namesake | Mill Hill, north London |
| Owner | Mill Hill Steam Ship Co, Ltd.[4] |
| Operator | Counties Ship Management Co Ltd, London[3][2] |
| Port of registry | Newcastle-upon-Tyne[4] |
| Acquired | 1936[3] |
| Identification | |
| Fate | Sunk by torpedo 30 August 1940[3][2] |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Cargo ship |
| Tonnage | |
| Length | 320.4 ft (97.7 m)[1] |
| Beam | 52.9 ft (16.1 m)[1] |
| Height | 24.9 ft (7.6 m)[1] |
| Installed power | 368 NHP[1] |
| Propulsion | 3-cylinder triple expansion steam engine;[1] single screw |
| Crew | 34[2] |
Engines edit
The ship had nine corrugated furnaces with a combined grate area of 187 square feet (17 m2) feeding three 180 lbf/in2 single-ended boilers with a combined heating surface of 6,105 square feet (567 m2).[1]
Names and owners edit
Gracechurch was first owned by Gracechurch Shipping Co of Newcastle and managed by James, Muers & Co of Cardiff.[3] In 1933 she was sold to B.J. Sutherland & Co who renamed her Peebles.
In 1936 she was sold to the Mill Hill Steam Ship Co Ltd,[4] which was controlled by Counties Ship Management (an offshoot of the Rethymnis & Kulukundis shipbroking company of London[5]) who renamed her Mill Hill.[3]
Loss edit
On 16 August 1940 Mill Hill left Halifax, Nova Scotia as a member of convoy HX 66A laden with pig iron and scrap steel[6] for Middlesbrough, England.[2] Between 0220 and 0248 hrs on 30 August 58 miles off Cape Wrath in the north of Scotland U-32 torpedoed the convoy, sinking three ships.[2] One was Mill Hill, which sank within a few minutes with the loss of all hands.[2]
Replacement ships edit
Gracechurch was the third of four ships that B.J. Sutherland & Co named Peebles.[3] When Sutherland sold her in 1936, William Doxford & Sons completed a new 4,982-ton cargo ship MV Peebles for Sutherland.[3] She survived the Second World War and in 1951 Sutherland sold her to Westralian Farmers Transport who renamed her Swanstream.[3] In 1957 Westralian sold to J. Manners & Co. of Hong Kong who renamed her San Fernando.[3] In 1965 Manners sold to her to Yong & Lee Timber who renamed her Phoenician Star.[3] She was scrapped at Hong Kong in 1967.[3]
Gracechurch was the first of two ships that Counties Ship Management named Mill Hill. In 1947 CSM bought the 7,219-ton Liberty ship SS Samdon and renamed her SS Mill Hill. Samdon had been built by New England Shipbuilding Corporation of Portland, Maine in 1943.[7] In 1949 she was transferred from CSM to a new Rethymnis and Kulukundis company, London and Overseas Freighters, retaining the name Mill Hill. In 1951 LOF sold her to new owners who renamed her Educator.[5] She was scrapped in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1961.[8]
References edit
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Lloyd's Register of Shipping (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1932. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Helgason, Guðmundur (1995–2010). "Mill Hill". uboat.net. Guðmundur Helgason. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Swiggum, S (1997–2010). "B.J. Sutherland & Co., Ltd. Newcastle upon Tyne 1892-1954". The Ships List. S Swiggum, M Kohli. Archived from the original on 10 June 2010. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g Lloyd's Register of Shipping (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1935. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
- ^ a b Fenton, Roy (2006). "Counties Ship Management 1934-2007". LOF-News. p. 1. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
- ^ Slader 1988, p. 63.
- ^ "Lloyd's Register of Shipping". London: Lloyd's Register. 1943. Archived from the original on 18 May 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
- ^ "Liberty Ships - S". Mariners. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
Sources & further reading edit
- Sedgwick, Stanley (1993) [1992]. Kinnaird, Mark; O'Donoghue, K.J. (eds.). London & Overseas Freighters, 1948-92: A Short History. World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-68-1.
- Sedgwick, Stanley; Sprake, R.F. (1977). London & Overseas Freighters Limited 1949-1977. World Ship Society. ISBN 0905617037.
- Slader, John (1988). The Red Duster at War. London: William Kimber & Co Ltd. p. 63. ISBN 0-7183-0679-1.